By Ashley Rosa
Every website is unique in its own way. Ecommerce websites are more diverse and offer a range of features to their clients. With businesses booming in the industry, we have noticed major trends that come and go to an online store. Features like animation, 360-degree photos and videos make an ecommerce store owner feel like a kid in a candy shop. There is so much you can do!
However, sometimes these features don’t get you the mileage you hoped for. Turns out, trends don’t guarantee growth or more conversions. You have a wonderful product range, professional logo and branding, a solid business model for your e-commerce business, and a website to be your online business store. Your marketing model is in check, and offline advertising is also running vigorously, but why are you still experiencing fewer conversions?
Seems like you have got everything right? You haven’t; unless you have paid attention to these key features that have to be in every ecommerce website because your customer will end up asking for them:
Usability
Your website has to be easy to navigate, intuitive, and responsive to the online buyer’s expectations. The customers want to be able to easily find what they are looking for – at least 76% of them are. Put yourself in place of your customers, get your friends to try out your website and ask them how easy or difficult it was to get around. Users like simple websites that deliver the required details in an uncluttered manner. If your website contains unnecessary details or unnecessary heavy visuals, chances are many of your customers will move on in search of another web store. A website that is not user-friendly will not only lead to potential customers leaving your website without purchase, it will also mean that they probably will not return again.
Product Photos
Every e-commerce business must have product photos. Yes, photos, not a photo. Online customers today want to be able to take a good look at the products they are looking to buy. Having bad quality or no images is a guaranteed way to send them away. Make sure all products have high-quality photos showing the product from several angles. If possible, also show the product in use. Invest in professional photography, let the users zoom in and out of your high-quality photos and see all the fine details. Since this is the only visual input customers have when making their purchase decision, make sure you make it as close to real life shopping as possible.
Product Reviews
Customers buy the products they can trust. And there is spokesperson better than someone who has already used the product. Make sure you ask customers to review your products once they buy from you. Incorporating star based reviews is a great way to build trust with potential customers, 92% people say stars are the number one rating factor they look at. Do not filter out negative feedback. Having positive-only reviews on all your products makes it evident you are filtering out bad reviews. Reviews are also a great way for you to receive customer feedback and work on your weak areas.
Mobile optimization
In 2018, 40% of all Black Friday online purchases were made on mobile devices. If you are not paying attention to this shift, you are losing out. Online shoppers are making more transactions to mobile devices every year. This means you must optimize your website for smartphone and tablet screens. A smooth, user-friendly experience on mobile devices is a sure strategy to convert more visits to successful sales. Not having a mobile optimized e-commerce website has bad SEO consequences which are too important for any serious business to ignore.
Payment methods
More and more customers are using newer methods to pay for their online purchases. Allowing customers to shop with debit and credit cards alone is not sufficient anymore, and e-commerce businesses need to keep an eye on the rapidly evolving Fintech industry. For example, this online leather jacket store has multiple payment options which are clearly displayed on the home page to guide the user:
You do not want a last-minute glitch to become a deal breaker. Therefore it is important that the required APIs are seamlessly integrated into the website for a fast and convenient checkout experience. You should have a multitude of payment gateways on your site. Otherwise, the customer will not do business with you. Combine this with the smoother checkout process, and you have a great ecommerce experience.
Search bar
Every e-commerce store needs good search functionality. The customers should be able to find what they are looking for. Make sure you put in place useful filters like product type, price, size, color, etc. The more convenient the process is, the more likely people are to buy from you. Users leave websites that do not make it easy to find the right products. Search queries also tell you what your customers are looking for; you can use this information to modify your product mix and better meet your customers’ needs.
Contact form and FAQs:
Your website can not provide all the information a customer might be looking for. It will also not resolve customers’ problems. Show the customers you are just a click away through your chat box. Having the knowledge that your customer service is readily available gives the customer the confidence to trust you and count on you if and when they need your assistance. It also helps to display your helpline phone number clearly for customers who prefer to talk in person. If customers feel you are inaccessible for their preferred mode of communication, they will simply move on to one of your competitors.
Last word
Having an e-commerce website is just the start. Having a website with the right features is what it takes to be successful in today’s online marketplace. You can create fantastic shopping experiences to turn your visitors into customers and your customers into repeat customers. Keep making fine tweaks, make the user experience your priority and stay updated with your analytics to evaluate what is working and what is not. Regularly evaluate your strategies and be open to making changes that your customers need.
Ashley Rosa is a freelance writer and blogger. As writing is her passion that why she loves to write articles related to the latest trends in technology and sometimes on health-tech as well. She is crazy about chocolates. You can find her at twitter: @Ashrosa2.
Ecommerce stock photo by Mr_Mrs_Marcha/Shutterstock
